A puzzle

Blank.

I blinked and rubbed my sweaty palms against my jeans to give it another try, I looked up and channeled my mind towards her trying to get anything, a vibe, a feeling, a reaction anything which will give me an insight to her inner self and couldn’t find a single clue. I felt like I was on the shore of the beach and she on a faraway island. An island which had sharp rocks forming the perimeter of the island, secluding it to any stranger trying to invade it. I was the invader and her mind blocked me from entering it, it was highly frustrating.

~

 

“MADHAV! ITS 7.45!”

I bolted upright when I heard my mother shout from the hall waking me up from my beauty sleep, it took me an entire minute for my hazy mind to register that the time was indeed— my eyes bulged,

7.45 am. F**k!

I jumped out of bed, quickly removing my socks (I can never sleep without my favorite pair of socks, be it sweltering summer or freezing winter), I threw them on my bed and rushed to take a quick shower. My classes started at 8.00am and our teachers gave us a 15minute time gap to assemble in class after which they shut the doors and bar entry, sealing the fate of our attendance. I never understand how I successfully manage to switch off my alarms (Around 3) instead of snoozing them, and my dear mother believes that sleeping is more important to a growing child (I’m an adult actually) than attending classes, and never wakes me up before it’s too late to class and I have to rush the entire process of getting ready. Sigh. There have been countable days when I have actually attended my first hour, I think it’s 6.

No Madhav, it’s actually 4, my inner voice chided me. Excellent, 4 it is.

I said bye to my mother, grabbed my keys and rushed downstairs plugging my earphones to my ear and selected my favorite playlist hitting play. I saw the time on my phone and it said 8.12am and my heart skipped a beat implicating what this meant, I closed my eyes and told a silent prayer for a brief time and then started my activa and ripped.

The gods did favor me as there was minimal traffic on the street, with each passing minute I grew more and more nervous and the music I was listening to, did little good to calm my nerves. I always depended on music to soothe me, but today, I was too jittery to care, with my mind preoccupied and the tips of my fingers tingly and my heartbeat, uneven.

I entered my college gate and steered my vehicle towards the parking lot and parked it. I took out my phone to check the time, 8.25am. Screw it Madhav, no class today!

I tucked my helmet to the side of the vehicle and secured it to keep it safe. After securing it, I turned towards my college building and started walking towards it. I passed through one block of our building and was just entering my departments block when I abruptly saw her. I instantly hid myself from her line of sight and slyly observed her from a distance. Her thick long hair was taken away from her face and fastened at the back with a white clip, her dress was very simple, a pink kurta and white leggings and she was fiddling with her phone. She was sitting under a tree on a ledge and the entire view looked very picturesque, the tree was huge with its branches spreading widely and unexpectedly it was filled with pink flowers, the almost same pink of her kurta. The pink was neither light nor dark, it was a blend of peach and baby pink.

She suddenly looked up from her phone and I almost caught my breath thinking she spotted me, but she just looked around and pursed her lips frowning slightly. After a couple of seconds on a sudden impulse she took her phone and made a phone call.

-beep beep-beep beep-

 

My phone vibrated!

My heart skipped a beat and after a second started hammering wildly in my chest, my fingertips got that tingly feeling and my hands shook mildly as I took out my phone from my pocket to see that one name I’ve been anticipating to see from days, no, weeks!

Her name, a spread of bold letters across my phone screen.

I rushed to pick the call and then stopped all of a sudden, my thumb hovering over the screen, to swipe towards the green icon, my mind was suddenly confused, I didn’t know if should answer it or not. I bit my lip and looked up at her and saw her face turn down with displeasure, I immediately swiped my thumb across on a whim.

“Heyyyyy! What’s up?” I sang, trying to sound as normal as possible and not betray the slight waver in my voice.

“Hii Madhav! Where are you man?!” she asked impatiently.

“Me, huh? I’m in college only.”

“Thank god! Can you please come near our department? I was late as usual and couldn’t attend first hour!” she cribbed. Just perfect. I smiled inwardly.

“Nope. I’m busy now, I can’t meet you.” I started walking towards her.

“Madhav please! Dude, don’t do this to me!”

“Noooooooooo.”

“Ayeee”

“Try again.” I said and willed her to look up, oh god! How long is she taking to notice me?! I was almost close to her and she still hadn’t looked up.

“Dudeeeeeeee—”she finally looked up and gave me the brightest smile. Her smile was so bright, it was the same smile as the one given by a little child when he’s given chocolate, it was lit and from up this close I could see that her face was devoid of make-up except for a slight black line drawn under her eyes, it highlighted her eyes making it look like almonds and her lips were the same color as her kurta, the same color of the flowers on the tree, a blend of peach and baby pink.

My heart lurched.

She looked like an angel with the most beautiful smile save for the eyes of a devil. Her eyes had the glow of witchlight.

“Hiiiiiiii there.” I grinned and stepped forward giving her a slight hug.

“Why are you late?” she asked and sat on the same ledge, I sat next to her.

“My mom didn’t wake me up! Bloody!” I complained.

“You still expect your mom to wake you up?!” she said laughing on my face.

“Duh! Obviously. Alarms never work on Madhav.” I said.

“Idiot” She said and grinned at me. I grinned back.

We continued our banter and that’s when I realized that something was missing. When I talk to a person, especially a person I’m close to I get a vibe with them, I know what to say to them, what to expect in return, what not to say and what never to say, but with her I couldn’t sense a thing.

She started explaining some story to me and I continued listening, I watched her expression, her hand movements which were so pronounced and expressive and tried to analyze her but,

Blank.

I blinked and rubbed my sweaty palms against my jeans to give it another try, I looked up and channeled my mind towards her trying to get anything, a vibe, a feeling, a reaction anything which will give me an insight to her inner self and couldn’t find a single clue. I felt like I was on the shore of the beach and she on a faraway island. An island which had sharp rocks forming the perimeter of the island, secluding it to any strangers trying to invade it. I was the invader and her mind blocked me from entering it, it was highly frustrating.

But one thing was certain, this girl was a conundrum for me, the most interesting puzzle, she made me as confused as a person who sees rain pouring down from a clear sky with the sun blazing high up (which is impossible, hence the confused). I gave a slight chuckle, I’m going to have so much fun figuring her out.

-beep beep-beep beep-

My phone vibrated again breaking me out of my daze for the 2^nd time today.

I take it out of my pocket wondering who’s calling me so early in the morning and all the muscles in my face contract making me freeze. I inhale sharply.

It’s my girlfriend.